Star Fox: Branching Paths
by Mr. Hybrid
Summary: She is potentially the most powerful Conduit in the Lylat system. All she needs is a push in the right direction to be Heroic or Infamous.
1. Chapter 0: The Blast

Disclaimer: Star Fox © Nintendo/Namco, InFamous Series © Sucker Punch, OCs (Nikki, Sasha, & Alissa) © Me.

 **Star Fox: Branching Paths**

Chapter 0: The Blast

~x~X~x~X~x~

 _24 Hours Ago, Undisclosed Location_...

"General Pepper! Surprised to see you here! ...Sir?" The scientist saluted the hound general as he walked into the room, flanked by two officers. The general waved at the scientist, "At ease, son. We just wished to check on this little science project of yours." Turning to the basketball-sized, round object on his desk, carefully mounted on a stand, inside a large, glass case. "Oh yes, that thing! It's almost ready to go. We just wanted to debrief our courier on the device before they move it to a more secure location." The General shook his head, "We're not debriefing anyone on the device, not until it arrives at Outpost 4." The scientist sputtered, "S-sir?"

The General glanced to the spherical object, a brilliant blue glow emanating from a ring and two circles on either side of the ring engraved into the shell of the device turning his red suit a shade of purple. He turned to the scientist, "The less the courier knows about the device, the less attention she'll attract to herself." The scientist inquired Pepper's usage of pronouns and he pulled up a holographic image and biography, "Nikki Lyle. Small town resident, former gymnast, never placed in any competitions, graffiti vandal, pickpocket and courier, relatively poor family." The scientist wondered if General Pepper had a screw loose, "You want to put what could potentially be the future of many fields of science and technology in the hands of a small-time delinquent?!" General Pepper turned to the scientist, "She's a parkourist. According to one of our field agents, she's allegedly spent her whole life climbing and leaping. She'll be ideal for getting around to Outpost 4. As it is, she's not gonna draw much attention to herself and she's not gonna ask a lot of very sensitive questions. She's exactly what we need, all we need to do is convince her to go through with it. I've consulted with some of our other field agents and we have a rough idea of a way to get it there."

 _21 Hours Ago, Rural Cornerian Town_...

Checking the message once again on her cell-phone for the address, Nikki put her phone away and let go of the roof's edge, grabbing the drainpipe and sliding down it. She slid down about three stories before slowing to a stop and letting go of the drainpipe. About two feet of space was all there was between where she stopped and the ground below. Looking up at the holographic street signs, she realized she was in the right place and looked around. At that point, she realized she'd never asked about who she was looking for. As she looked around, she soon saw someone waving and checked to make sure he wasn't waving at someone else. She approached the person, in an alleyway, and quipped, "You know, Normally I avoid people in trench-coats in dark alleyways at night. So you'd better have a damn good reason for bringing me out of my comfort zone." The trench-coat Cornerian, an old hare with blue eyes, chuckled, "Strange words coming from someone who's been in a few odd jobs herself." Nikki immediately tensed, "What're you? A cop?" The hare looked around, "Nah, just someone looking to deliver a package." The hare lifted up a backpack that very plainly had something in it. Nikki's interest was piqued, "Okay, so you've got a bag. What do I do with it?"

The hare gave her an address, then handed her the bag. Before she left, he stopped her to give her a warning, "Do not open it and do not stop for anything. I've got a couple escorts that I can send with you to help out, but other than that, it's all you. Also, do yourself a favor and wait until tomorrow night. Your escorts will be here by then." Nikki glanced down the path behind her, "Okay, but who am I-" She stopped when she looked back and saw that the Cornerian had disappeared. "Okay, creepy guy gives me a bag and disappears. That's a first."

 _19 Hours Ago, Military Safehouse_...

Miyu grinned, "If Fay's going, I know I am." The grin disappeared as quickly as it formed, "But why exactly were we chosen over any of the more combative soldiers? I mean, Fay's an engineer and I'm a scout. So... why us?" The sergeant, currently dressed in civilian attire just like they were, responded as simply as he could, "Discretion is the better part of stealth. Sending in a big, burly soldier of a Cornerian for something like this is like sending a tank to track an insect." Fay passed Miyu a drink and spoke to the sergeant, "I get that part, but please be honest, Sarge. There's very clearly something else going on here and I don't wanna be kept out of the loop." The sergeant shrugged, "How the hell should I know? If there's something going on, I'm being kept out too. All I was told was to tell you two to escort her to this address." He gave them the address and then stood up to leave, "Don't get drunk by the way, last thing we need is her escorts down and out with hangovers." Miyu chuckled, "It's okay, I know my limits. Don't have too much fun without us, Sarge." The sergeant let out a laugh, "Alright, I'll be sure to reserve 'screwing around' for when you two get back tomorrow night." He saluted them, which they responded by standing up and saluting him. "Good luck, you two." Fay nodded, "Roger that, Sarge."

 _9 Hours Ago, Nikki's Hometown_...

The two Cornerians looked around, searching for their little escort friend as per a message from the sergeant. Fay looked down one of the alleys and was surprised to feel Miyu's hand pressing a pistol into her hands. She looked at Miyu and before she could ask, Miyu answered, "Just in case. We don't really know what to expect." As they wandered into the alley, a thud behind them prompted them to turn around and pull out their guns. They came face to face with a brown-furred feline Cornerian with green eyes, a grey hooded sweater, and grey sweat-pants, who looked them over. Recognizing the courier from the biography they were given, they put their guns away. Fay, being the more social type, approached the courier, "Hello, I'm-" The courier finished her sentence, "-one of my escorts. I kinda figured that part out when you put your guns away. I figured I'd meet with you two now so I'd know what the route is when we leave tonight." Miyu and Fay glanced at each other, "Route?" The courier clarified, "Yeah, route. You know, like the collection of streets and sidewalks and alleys that we're taking to reach our destination?" Miyu shook her head, "We were never given a specific route to follow." The courier sighed, "Then we'll take the most straightforward route. I'll see you at 10:45." The courier started walking away, leaving them in the alley.

Miyu was the first to speak after the exchange, "What a prick." Fay shrugged, "I dunno, if life was as hard on me as it is for her, I'd probably be a bit of a prick myself." Miyu stretched a bit, "I don't think her life has anything to do with her attitude. Still inexcusable." Fay chuckled, "You know you're cute when you get that face, right?" Miyu stopped scowling for a moment and grinned at Fay, "You know you're cute no matter what, right?" Fay blushed, "Yeah, though I don't suppose I could count on you not to embarrass me in public by grabbing my ass?"

"It's a cute ass."

"Miyu! Come on!"

 _Present Time, En route to Drop-off_...

Taking a running start, she leaped from the roof of one building across the alley and grabbed the handrail of the fire-escape on the next building. The bag she wore wasn't exactly light either, it threw off her ability to jump by a little bit. But when one free ran as much as she did, a little bit was all that took to turn an otherwise easy jump into a lethal free fall. She climbed over the handrail and began climbing up the fire-escape to the roof. She tapped her ear-piece to make sure her escorts were listening, "We nearing the address?" There was a bit of static, but the reply was clear enough, "We've got about five more blocks, then we're supposed to meet with the other receiver. Any chance you can come down to street level? It's hard to see where you are." Nikki snickered, "That's the point. As far as I know, people don't generally hang out on rooftops unless they're hiding something or they're homeless. Also, it's night if you haven't noticed, and with my choice of attire, it's easier to run around at night." The escort noted this and replied, "Yeah, but it's also safer to stay in well-lit places at night and in a group. At least that way, we can pull your tail out of the fire." Nikki frowned, "I appreciate your concern, but I _can_ handle myself in a fight."

"Noted."

Leaping to the next rooftop, Nikki skidded across the rooftop and into a standing position. Although the bag was easy enough to lift, having its weight on her back was starting to become more than irritating. She was unable to do some of her more advanced parkour with this thing on her back. However, she wasn't planning on taking the bag off until she reached the address. Pausing momentarily to rest, she took a deep breath, then sat down. At that point, she heard voices. There were other Cornerians on this rooftop, and from their tone of voice, they'd just noticed her, and they weren't homeless. Tapping her ear-piece, she called her escorts, "Hey, remember when you said you'd pull my tail out of the fire? Well, promise me you won't say you told me so, but I'm in trouble with one of the gangs."

"...I fucking told you so. Just try and get down and we'll defend you."

Nikki glanced behind her and was about to jump when one of the thugs grabbed her bag and lifted her up. "You're trespassing on our territory. You wanna know what we do to trespassers? It ain't pretty." Nikki groaned, "Is it too much to hope it's not something as cliché as executing me right here?" The thug paused for a second, enough time for Nikki to jab her foot back into his kneecap, stumbling him and freeing herself. She took off running as the other thugs pulled out any firearms they had and opened fire. She leaped off the roof and latched onto the drainpipe opposite from the building. She slid down the pipe and was almost to the ground when a laser tore through her shoulder, burying itself in the wall and causing her to lose her grip along with all sensation in that arm. She fell off the pipe and fell three stories, landing on her back. There was a distinct crack, but she couldn't tell if that was her legs, her back, or whatever was in her bag as soreness surged through her body like a lightning bolt. Through the pain, she managed to open her eyes and see her escorts arriving and returning fire. There was a long period, or at least it felt that way to Nikki, where they returned fire, and the thugs drew the fight out, despite their advantage in numbers, they were outmatched by the skills of the two.

Grunting, she rolled off her back and slid out of the backpack straps. She couldn't feel her entire lower body and she didn't want the thing on her back any longer. She grunted as her bag suddenly felt very hot. She wasn't sure anymore what she was doing, but she briefly wondered if she had opened the zipper in an attempt to vent the heat. The only thing anyone else could remember at that point was a bright light that engulfed multiple blocks of the town, and only a select few alive for unknown reasons.

 _2 Years Later, Great Fox_...

Miyu gasped and jolted awake almost immediately, hyperventilating for a little while, before swallowing and willing herself to calm down. Next to her, Fay stirred and grumbled a bit. She readjusted herself to face Miyu and asked, "Everything alright?" Miyu sighed, then grinned at her, "Yeah, just a bad dream." Fay raised an eyebrow, "You're a great liar, but I've been with you for four years now, and two of them were in secret. It's not just any old nightmare. Am I right?" Miyu glanced at the foot of the bed, "Yeah, you are." Fay sat up and rubbed Miyu's back, "Hey, it's alright. You can tell me." Miyu sighed and looked at the wall, "Remember when we were still in the military?" Fay suddenly understood and inferred what Miyu was going to say, "That one mission? The one that went... well, went pear-shaped?" Miyu stared at her hands, "Two point one million. That number is gonna be on my hands for the rest of my life." Fay leaned closer to Miyu, "Forty thousand, Miyu, including us. Besides, you weren't the cause of it. So don't sweat it. That was then, this is now. At this point, all that matters from then is that we survived."

Miyu decided that then, she'd voice a thought that had been worming its way into her mind since a couple nights ago, "I don't think we survived." Fay raised an eyebrow, "Did you knock a few screws loose?" Miyu shook her head, "We were spared. By what, I have no idea. But there's no way we should have survived that. That courier sure as hell didn't." Fay shrugged, "So what? Miyu, stop worrying about it, please. Normally I'm the one to worry. As I said before, that was the past. So please, just let it go for now, aye?" Miyu turned to Fay and thought about it. She averted her gaze momentarily, then reassured her, "Alright. I'll try." Fay laid back down and murmured, "Besides, if the new girl's telepathic, it'll help more than just us if you do." Miyu chuckled and joined Fay, pulling the sheet up to her shoulders. She thought about the new girl that Fay referred to.

Her name was Krystal and she had probably the oddest fur color Miyu had ever seen. That said, even the tribal tattoos weren't the most unusual feature of the blue vixen. She was telepathic, and that much she had confirmed largely by just standing in their presence. Of course, Fox, being the cute little train-wreck he was, already had a crush on Krystal and was prone to stumbling over himself around her, which gave Miyu plenty of opportunities to poke fun at him. If it weren't for his natural fur color, she'd sworn that at least once or twice he'd turned a pretty shade of red.

A/N

→ Real "Spur o' the moment" kinda story based on a random idea I had. A list of people across any franchise I knew of that could be potential Conduits. Among them included at least one person in the Star Fox canon. For the sake of the plot, there's at least three main character Conduits.

→ This is sort of a side project that I'm working on while taking a break from "Age of Devastation." I do plan to complete this one, and hopefully with a less convoluted plot than what "AoD" currently has (I plan to resolve the convolution soon). Don't worry though, I plan to finish what I started.

→ This story is, for all intents and purposes, slightly AU. The reasons for which are spoilers, so I won't divulge.


	2. Chapter 1: Black Clouds on the Horizon

Chapter 1: Black Clouds on the Horizon

~x~X~x~X~x~

"So, Foxy, how 'bout Krystal, eh?" Falco's words almost immediately made the vulpine blush. He turned to Falco, "Come again?" Falco chuckled, "Oh please, it's pretty obvious. You got the hots for her." Fox glared at the avian, "And you're bugging me about this because?" Falco shrugged, "You're her personal tutor on Arwing and Landmaster controls in addition to using most of the weapons we've got. Any one of us could do the same thing." Fox blushed harder, "It's a pretty basic idea, Falco. I'm just teaching the new recruit how to not lose her head." Falco crossed his arms, "Fox, the way you act around her- actually any pretty girl you meet- it's obvious enough that I'm honestly surprised she hasn't caught on yet." Fox's gaze went elsewhere as he tried to come up with an excuse, "I get nervous around Fara because she's my ex. Just because we've moved on doesn't mean I don't suspect that she'd gut me under the impression that I'm going behind her back." Falco scoffed, "My bullshit-o-meter is going off. Fox, I know you better than anyone else here, besides maybe Slippy and Peppy. Fox, you saved her from a fate worse than death and now you're attracted to her. So what're you waiting for?"

Fox mulled the idea over in his head, "What if she doesn't feel the same?" Falco shrugged, "Honestly, the worst thing that could happen when you ask if she wants to go on a date is that she'll say no. Though with how you're keeping her couped up in here instead of taking her with you in missions kinda brings some unfortunate implications." Fox's eyes widened, "I-I'm just- I'm only- She's... Aw dammit. The only reason I'm not taking her with me is because, well, training or not, she's still a rookie and I don't wanna lose her because the skill of the mission was beyond her ability." Falco rolled his eyes, "You say that as if none of the missions we take are dangerous." Fox decided to cross his arms and cocked an eyebrow, "What about that one mission on Eladard?" Falco rubbed his forehead, "What _about_ the mission on Eladard?"

"It wasn't dangerous."

"We were smuggling a small-time crook off the planet and she gave us a hefty sum for our troubles."

"We didn't have any problems."

"We could have."

"But we didn't."

"Fox, are you seriously just gonna send her on escorts and retrievals? You know as well as I do that after a while, it's really tempting to kill the person being escorted or just leave the retrieved item on an asteroid in the middle of deep space."

Fox, realizing that this argument was going nowhere fast, gave up and sat down in front of the monitor. There was a period of silence between them lasting a bit longer than either one was comfortable with. Falco was about to leave when Fox spoke up, "Alright, fine. I admit it. She's still here instead of on a mission because I do care about her, and while I don't doubt her skills, I guess I'm just scared of losing her before I even get the chance to say something." Falco paused and chose his words very carefully, "Well, I think that maybe... when you've got the chance, just tell her how you feel. Don't try anything fancy, just be straightforward." Falco paused, "Well, don't be too straightforward. You don't wanna alienate her with any weird fetishes or anything like that." Fox scoffed in disgust, "As if I'm into that, Falco." Falco shook his head and chuckled, "Just messing with you, man." Fox made a reminder to get Falco back at some point and stood up. "Alright, I'm gonna tell her. I will go right up to her and tell her that I like her as more than a friend and I wanna go on a date, right now." The face Falco made at his newfound enthusiasm gave Fox merit to pause and ask, "What?" Falco scratched the back of his head, "Well, two things. One, you, uh, may want to tone down the enthusiasm. Two, Krystal's... not exactly here in this ship right now."

"...What?"

~x~X~x~X~x~

"Thank you for showing me around this place, Ms. Monroe." The blue vixen sitting next to Katt in the hover-vehicle thanked her yet again, prompting an eye-roll, "You know you don't need to be so formal, right?" Krystal's smile faded, "Maybe, but I'd feel better about myself if I was." Katt had to stifle a small chuckle and just said, "Yeah, things are definitely looking up from here on out." Krystal raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" Katt made a right turn, then clarified, "Recently, things have been a bit hard on us. Low funds, outdated technology and programming, not to mention there was that fiasco that led to Falco leaving the team for a 'vacation.' I was under the impression that Star Fox was just on a downward spiral. Then that business with Sauria happened. Fox saved the Lylat System, we got a nice hefty reward out of it, Falco came back, and you're on our team now. Your little thing about confidence and formality? You won't need to do that after a couple months with us, trust me."

At that point, the radio came on, tapped into the police scanner, informing them of a bounty on a bank robber sighted in the area, wanted alive. Katt tapped one of the buttons on the radio and it showed a holographic map with a small area highlighted in red. Katt glanced at Krystal, then turned a sharp left and put the pedal to the metal, planning to both show Krystal what she meant. As they drove to the area, they witnessed something that made her immediately begin questioning her decision to chase down the target, as he appeared in a literal puff of smoke. Slamming on the brakes, Katt swerved to avoid the Lylatian avian, who turned in time to get hit by her.

"Oh shit! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Katt, after shutting the hover-vehicle off and making sure not to crush the Lylatian they'd just hit, stepped out of the vehicle to check on the Lylatian, and motioning for Krystal to get out and help her out. The Lylatian in question, a brown-feathered avian, an escaped inmate if the orange suit was anything to go by. Krystal knelt by the avian and pressed her fingers to his neck. "He's still got a pulse." Katt was marginally relieved by the discovery, "Then that means we, especially you, can bring him in." Krystal raised an eyebrow, "You're certain that you won't get in trouble for hurting him?" Katt nodded, "For what it's worth, they just want him alive. They didn't specify what condition they wanted him in. At most, I'm gonna be in a little bit of trouble for speeding. As for hitting him, he..." Kat trailed off, unable to explain how he had appeared in the road other than from a puff of smoke. "I supposed we could say he ran out in front of us before I could react." The avian stirred and groaned. Krystal noticed and motioned to Katt, "Help me get him up, then." Katt nodded and moved to help as Krystal moved her arm under his back to push him into a sitting position. Katt grabbed one of his arms and helped him onto his feet. As she did, one hand moved to the gun holstered on her belt.

As soon as he was on his feet, he elbowed Katt in the chest and got behind Krystal, wrapping an arm around her neck and pointing an open hand at Katt. Katt recovered and drew her pistol as the avian spoke, "Alright now, you let me go and I ain't gonna hurt nobody." Katt scoffed, "Considering you already hit a girl, I'm more than willing to hit back. Besides, you've got no weapons." Smoke began emanating from his hands and he appeared to fire from his fingers a ball of burning ashes that barely missed Katt as she leaned to the side. Krystal, in the meantime, had figured out a way to take him down and grabbed his hand, intending to flip him over her back and onto the ground. Instead, there was an odd sensation as her mind was suddenly flooded with images she couldn't quite understand the meaning of, before blacking out.

~x~X~x~X~x~

Recoiling from the inmate's attack, she looked up expecting him to throw yet another fiery punch, only to see him running away from her, then _transforming_ into a cloud of smoke that flew into a vent. Seeing that she wasn't going to catch him, she gave up, making a note to tell the others about this and hopefully enlist their help later. She tried to get up and paused momentarily as a brief fit of coughs left her throat sore. He might have broken something, but Katt wasn't going to let it stop her. As she stumbled onto the street, she found large scorched patches with cinders still burning, plumes of smoke rising from materials that she though were impossible to burn, and destroyed hover-vehicles. She looked around and realized that Krystal wasn't in sight. She hadn't seen her since she blacked out trying to attack the inmate. She began wondering if Krystal was prone to things like this, then she pushed those thoughts aside to try and find the blue vixen.

She came across Krystal in the street, unconscious and smoking. That made Katt's concerns intensify into fears. Fur, under normal circumstances, tended to burn quickly. Images of a horribly scarred vixen flashed through her mind as she raced over Krystal to put her out. As soon as she reached Krystal, she stopped, eyes widened, at the scenario before her. Krystal, though unconscious, was not hurt, nor was she burning. Instead, it seemed as if her body was drawing the surrounding smoke into herself. Katt paused for a moment, as the smoke disappeared, before getting on one knee to check on Krystal. Her pulse was normal, and she certainly didn't have any bald spots or burns anywhere that she could tell, something that made no sense to Katt. She felt dizzy and for a moment, wondered just how serious her own injuries were. Then, she felt numbness overtaking her and collapsed next to Krystal, consciousness fleeing her.

~x~X~x~X~x~

If she could, she would've chosen to wake up slowly, but consciousness hit her like a ton of bricks as Krystal's eyes spanned open. Gasping to get air into her burning lungs, she sat up on instinct, in an unfamiliar white room. Then, she was outside the room without any idea of how she did it. Trying to stand up, her legs wobbled and then, she was even further down the hallway with the ground rushing to meet her very quickly. Picking herself up off the ground, she leaned against the wall and stared at her hands, wondering what was happening to her. At that point, she realized there were Cornerians in blue garments, with some of them wearing gloves and carrying strange objects. She then realized that she wasn't in her pilot suit, but a strange white dress-like article of clothing.

"Krystal?" A voice behind her attracted her attention and she saw Fox with a concerned expression. She took a step toward him and found herself briefly standing even further in the hallway, then at the end of the hallway a fork in the road, then down one of the two hallways before she almost screamed to stop. And she did, in front of a window overlooking the city. She heard Fox's voice again and turned to see him. He seemed worried, and she was at this point terrified. Nerving up, she tried to take a step and found that she wasn't suddenly going from spot to spot in the blink of an eye. Cautious, she took another step, and another, and another, until she was confident enough to be able to walk again, as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Fox returned the gesture, gently rubbing her back as she tightened her grip around him, "Fox... I'm scared." He whispered back to her, "I know. It's okay, I'm here." He carefully ran his fingers through her hair as she began crying for reasons she wished she could say.

Katt had the luxury of waking up slowly, and as she did, the sight she was greeted with was a familiar blue avian watching her with blue eyes. She grinned, "You're looking good, bluebird." Falco blushed a bit at his nickname, giving a forced laugh to try and disguise the embarrassment. He then went serious at a moment's notice, "Everything alright? Was there some sorta bomb? We found you and Krystal near what looked like the end result of one." Katt shook her head and tried to sit up. Wincing, she stayed down and just replied, "No. Would you believe that it was all the result of someone handing me my ass on a silver platter?" Falco shook his head, "Not really. Then again, weirder things have happened." Katt reached up to him and brushed a pink paw against his feathered cheek. He held her hand on his cheek for a while, "I've been here the entire time you were recovering. I was worried about you, kitty" This time, it was Katt's turn to blush at the affectionate nickname, "I wish you didn't have a reason to worry. I just wanted to show Krystal the sights." A second voice that she recognized as Fox's stopped Falco from replying, "Without my permission. Katt, what the hell were you thinking?" Katt crossed her arms and replied, "Exactly what I said, captain." Fox's own arms uncrossed and he walked into the hospital room, "Among other things I feel I should remind you, the biggest one is that Krystal's still a rookie and isn't ready for combat yet." Katt glared at him and snapped, "Speak for yourself, _captain_. I was showing her around the city and we heard of a bounty for a small-fry. You wanted field experience, she would've gotten it bagging her first real bounty! It would've given her confidence too! If you were truly paying attention to her, you would've realized that she's really shaken up about being stuck in a crystal, no matter how little time it was!" Fox simply returned her glare, "You should have cleared it with me or Peppy before leaving. At least then we-" Katt, against her body's protests, sat up and interrupted him, "-would what? Hover over her and hold her hand? I don't deny that she needs training, but you can't just leave her behind every time we need to go on a mission where any one of us is in danger of breaking a fingernail. Otherwise you might as well treat her like a civilian."

Fox had to pause and think for a moment. He then came to a conclusion, "Alright, fine. But next mission, you're staying behind until you can learn to follow orders." Falco sputtered, "B-but, what about me? I made it clear that I sanctioned the vacation! You can't just punish Katt and not me!" Fox turned to the avian, his glare enough to make the bird flinch a bit, "We'll discuss yours when we get back to the ship." He turned around to see Krystal standing in the doorway, back in her pilot suit, "Fox." His eyes widened and he turned beet red as she spoke, "I'm staying to catch that robber. People like him can't just be left to roam free." Her hand began smoking and she held it up, "Besides, I want to pay him back for this." Fox stared at the faint wisps of smoke emitted from her palm and asked, "A-are you sure? Because we can help you out if-" Krystal stopped him, "If you want me to be anything other than a rookie, you need to let me handle this." Fox, realizing that he couldn't convince her otherwise, gave in, "Alright, but I'm one call away if you need me." As he started to walk out, Krystal stopped him, "Actually, could Katt... could she stay? Both her and Falco?" Fox was about to say no until he thought about it for a moment. He answered her question, "Yeah. They can stay. Maybe if they can fix the mess they made, I'll spare them their punishments. But at least let me check you out of here first."

~x~X~x~X~x~

 _A Couple Hours Later_...

Back on the Great Fox, Miyu had just gotten out of her shower, wrapped up tightly in a towel. Due to limited funds, there was only room for one person in the shower room, and not a lot of hot water, which left everyone with only so much time before someone was going to have to wait for more hot water. Thankfully, Miyu had found time to get hers in after Fay's shower. As she worked on drying herself off, she wondered how Katt and Krystal were doing. Since Falco had agreed to help get Krystal out to see Corneria, and Miyu had recently heard of Fox's plans to take her by himself to visit, she could only imagine what had happened. Her fur still slightly damp, she briefly considered just hiding in her quarters and hoping Fox wouldn't bug her about it as she grabbed her clothes and slipped them on. She stepped out of the foggy shower-room and into a cold hallway. Shivering a bit, she decided to go and ask Peppy about the scenario when she bumped into Fox, who just walked past her.

After wondering what got him so irritated, Miyu went to go and speak with Peppy. As far as she knew, Peppy was like an adoptive father to Fox, so he'd most likely know what was on the vulpine's mind. Peppy was on the bridge, running a system analysis on the Great Fox as well as ROB 64. "Hey Peppy." The old hare turned and smiled at her, "Hey Miyu! You're just in time. I'm finishing up a diagnostics check on the ship, so we'll know what we're gonna need to update next." Miyu immediately pitched an idea, "Better showers?" Peppy chuckled, "Maybe, if nothing crucial needs repairs or replacements or upgrades." Miyu leaned on the hand-rail behind his seat and asked Peppy, "What's up with our captain today?" Peppy turned back to the screen for a moment, then answered her question, "Well, other than finding out that no-one told him about something they were gonna do, the new girl's got superpowers now apparently." This piqued Miyu's interests, "What do you mean 'superpowers?' Like flying and super strength? I always though telepathy in and of itself was a superpower." Peppy shook his head, "More like turning into smoke and shooting forward as well as making it come out of her hands. I asked her about it, she said she caught it from some other guy, apparently did a number on Katt while trying to escape."

She walked down to Peppy and with one hand leaned on his seat and the other on the monitor table, "Any chance we can get a face on our Smoker?" Peppy began typing on the keyboard while he quipped, "Already coming up with nicknames? Eh, I don't really care much for 'em." An image of a brown-feathered avian with brown eyes appeared on screen, "Ah, here we go. Let's see. Henry Madison, Age 31, arrested for attempted robbery, recently escaped under unknown circumstances-" He paused for a moment and Miyu commented, "I'm sure I can guess how he did it. Anything else to know?" Peppy scrolled down on the target's bio, "Yeah. Had a family of three consisting of his wife and daughter... who both perished two years ago, when an explosion killed about 2.1 million and left about 40 thousand alive under unknown circumstances, including Henry here... Miyu? You alright?" Miyu wasn't sure if Peppy knew, so she decided to tell him, "No. No I'm not." Peppy turned to her as she stood up straight, "That explosion? From two years ago? Fay and I were still part of the Lylat Military back then..." Peppy raised one eyebrow in curiosity, before his eyes widened in shock at her next sentence, "We were right at the epicenter of it." Peppy stared in awe, "How did you survive?" Miyu shook her head, "No idea... We really shouldn't have. We had no cover, no anticipation, no idea of what it even was until it happened. All I remember is waking up the next day in a crater alongside Fay. We were escorts sent to get a courier and a package to Outpost 4. The courier wasn't there, neither was the package. That was when we left the Military and just drifted for a couple years."

She stared at the image of their target, and realized why the bounty for his capture was so high, "If he survived the explosion and he has powers, there's gotta be a connection somewhere. Peppy, please, send me and Fay to take care of this." Peppy turned to the image, "I could, but Krystal, Katt, and Falco are already there." Miyu shrugged, "Fara, Fox, Saru, and Slippy are still around, you'll be fine for a few days." Peppy thought about it. He gave it a few seconds of consideration, then nodded, "Alright. You two can go. Just be safe and have fun, alright?"

A/N

→ Krystal is a telepath, Delsin Rowe is also telepathic (kinda), this is more of a "What If..." kind of AU, in this case, "What If Krystal is a Conduit?" using the idea that she just needs to flex her powers, in addition to trying to cope with these powers in a day-to-day life.


	3. Chapter 2: A New Day

Chapter 2: A New Day

~x~X~x~X~x~

The day after their hospital trip came sooner than Krystal would've preferred. She was, thankfully gently, woken up by Falco to tell her that she'd been cleared to leave. When she asked where Fox was, the bird just shrugged, "He asked me to keep an eye on ya and left. I think he went back to the Great Fox." Krystal, after their conversation and getting out of the hospital, began thinking about what to do. Apparently, Falco had convinced Fox during the night to get Krystal a cell-phone, and while she initially had no idea how to use it, Falco was kind enough to let her get a glance inside his head for the instructions.

Pretty soon, it rang, prompting Krystal to answer, "Hello?" Katt's tired voice greeted her as she walked around, going nowhere in particular, "Hey hey. How's little smoky doing?" Krystal looked around to try and find the street where the fight took place a day ago, "Smoky? Didn't think I'd be getting a nickname so soon." Katt chuckled, then grunted, "Yeah, but it's fitting, considering you've got smoke coming out of your hands, and just about everywhere else, now." Krystal glanced at her left shoulder, seeing no smoke. "Hey, any idea on where our perp went?" Katt made a discontented noise, "No. Honestly I've got no plans to meet him any time soon." Krystal then realized that she'd gotten absolutely nowhere in trying to find the street, "Well, I do. Bastard's gonna get what's coming to him." Katt sounded hesitant, "I'm sure he will... But, please. I know, it's probably really awesome to have like this cool power and all, but try not to hurt anyone. Alright?" Krystal raised her eyebrows, "Why are you so concerned? I thought that wasn't very high on your priorities?" Katt scoffed, "See, it's quite the opposite. Reducing collateral and trying to save the injured is what helps us from being hunted by just about every military force in the system. Also, it pays better."

They wrapped up their conversation and Krystal decided to approach someone about the street. She wanted to go to the scene and try to find clues about their mysterious attacker. She tapped the shoulder of one gray feline and asked her, "Would you know where the street where all the explosions and fire happened yesterday?" The gray feline turned to her and replied, "Yeah. It's about 12 blocks in the opposite direction. Take a right, then go 4 blocks. Dunno why you'd wanna be there right now, soldiers' got it locked down pretty tight." Krystal glanced in the direction that the gray feline spoke of and began, "Well, see, I left something there and I wanted to see about getting it back somehow..." At the sound of a whoosh, Krystal turned back to the gray feline only to not see her there. Scratching her head about where the feline went, she decided to let it go and started in the direction that she'd been pointed toward.

As she headed down the street, she began to wonder how she could get to that particular street faster, then felt a steady stream of heat. Looking around, she saw a vent nearby and while normally nothing spectacular, she found herself drawn toward it. She walked up to it and briefly, she wondered what would happen if she touched it. She chuckled and thought to herself, _Surely nothing would happen. I'd feel stupid at most_. She turned away and started to walk away for just a moment, then, with an irritated growl, she turned back to the vent, then held her hand out. Next thing she knew, she was vaguely aware that she was shooting through something dark and warm, before flying out into something bright. Almost immediately, she realized she was in the air as sensation returned and panicked for a second as she fell to the... roof? Smoke trails briefly enshrouded her legs as she landed on her feet, and briefly, she wondered why it didn't hurt. When she saw the smoke clouds around her legs dissipate, she quickly figured out why. She turned to the vent that she had dared touch and figured out that she'd somehow instinctively activated her smoke-dash, and gone right into the vent. "Alright, vents. I could use this... I think." Her mind began wandering as she started to piece together a way to do so.

As a test, she ran at the roof-vent, and smoke-dashed at it. As she had expected, she went flying. While in the air, she used her smoke-dash a second time, flying through the air and reforming over the next building. Hitting the roof, she paused, her mind racing with both fear and excitement. She decided to call Katt up after she reached the street. In the meantime, she had to get there. After crossing the next few buildings, she reached a building where, before she could smoke-dash to the next one, overheard some chatter that got her attention. Peering over the edge, she saw a couple Cornerians wearing ragged and torn clothing. What really stuck out was their hoods, which seemed to fully obscure their faces. She called Katt up and asked about it after describing them, "Creepy hoodie people? Oh no. You ought to stay away from them for now." Krystal's curiosity was piqued, "Why's that?" Katt explained, "If they're who I think they are, this may be a big problem. Those might be the Reapers. I'd heard tales about them, about how they are absolutely wild and feral when in combat, with a select few capable of causing quakes wherever they stand, but I've never seen one myself, and frankly, I'm not sure I want to." Krystal's eyes widened as Katt hung up. She checked the alley again and the strange Cornerians were still standing there, talking among each other. It was then that Krystal noticed their rifles and decided that, until she had better control over her powers, she'd leave them be for the moment.

~x~X~x~X~x~

If the image in her head of the area was bad, what she really saw once she arrived was even worse. The street was cracked and singed, cars were smashed and smoking, telephone poles were down, and the buildings themselves were decrepit and abandoned. Why people moved out in such a hurry was beyond her, but her thoughts were drawn to the Landmaster rolling down the street, then stopping as a couple of soldiers riding in the passenger seats got out to begin looking around. Krystal impulsively got on her knees to hide on the roof, only peeking over the edge to see what they were up to. The soldiers checked the alleys right by them, then they went into one of the buildings as the Landmaster continued rolling down the street. Only after they disappeared did Krystal notice a blue glow in one of the alleys. Checking to make sure they wouldn't be right back out, hoping they would search the entire building, Krystal smoke-dashed off the rooftop and landed on the street, before smoke-dashing to the alley. Once certain that they couldn't see her, she headed toward the blue glow. From what she could tell, it was a small rock, roughly the size of a bottle, emitting the light. She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the light. Suddenly, the glow from the rock lunged for her and into her outstretched hand. Unexpectedly, she felt a huge surge of power and began hovering. A sphere of the blue light enveloped her as her arms and legs straightened and her head tilted upward.

A series of images that, while initially random, began to show one consistent action; Krystal would raise her hand and fire a ball of burning ashes and smoke from her hand. When the vision ended, the blue light was absorbed into her body and she hit the ground. When she stood back up and stared at her hands, they began glowing orange and smoking. Curious, she looked around for a target, to see if what the visions told her were how to use something new. She spied a piece of paper on the ground before her and decided to try it. She held her hand out, like she had seen in her vision. There was a brief pause when nothing happened, then a ball of smoke flew out of her hand and struck the paper, burning it to a crisp. Impressed, she looked around for the rock, only to find that it wasn't glowing anymore. "Damn... Looks like I'm probably gonna have to go around finding more of these... whatever they are."

~x~X~x~X~x~

Hoping out of their Arwings, Miyu soon joined Fay outside the spaceport, and filled Fay in on what they were doing on Corneria. Miyu had cleared the trip with Peppy and asked to bring Fay with her, and she had specified that they'd most likely be here for an indeterminate amount of time. After making their way out of the spaceport and hoping onto a bus into the city.

"So, we're here to find a guy who can walk through walls and... not turn him in?" Miyu groaned and explained the last part to Fay, "We're going to question him about the Blast. If he knows something, we follow that lead and turn him in as well. If not, we turn him in. Before we left, I asked Peppy to dig through the Internet and see if he can find a list of survivors from the Blast, to see if they have any leads." Fay decided to ask Miyu for a bit of clarification, "On what exactly?" Miyu then groaned, "Were you paying attention at all when I told you all this earlier?" Fay paused and averted her gaze as she thought for a while, "Um... No. I will admit I was distracted by the fact that you're being exceptionally serious about this... Among other things." Miyu sighed, "Alright, okay. The leads we're trying to find are on what exactly caused the Blast, and why the military was involved with it in the first place." Fay raised an eyebrow, "Thought they said it was a terrorist attack." Miyu shook her head, glanced around the bus, then kept her voice low, "No. I just... I cannot see how any regular bomb would have left us alive when we were in the center of ground zero." Fay glanced around, then lowered her voice as well, "You know what? Show me proof and I'll listen. But I still think this might just be a wild-goose chase." Miyu glanced around, "When we reach our destination, we'll split up, then meet in the nearest alleyway. I have something to show you."

Shortly after their bus-ride to their destination, the last place where their target was spotted, Miyu managed to meet with Fay in a back alley. "Alright Miyu, what is it that you wanted to show me?" Miyu held up her hand and small sparks began emanating from it, building into a small fire in the pads of her hand. She had expected Fay to back away in fear or disgust, but instead, Fay held up her own hand and small, crystalline structures began forming, releasing a white powder along with a cool breeze. Miyu suppressed her fire and asked Fay, "You're one too? When did you discover your power?" Fay grinned, "At least I know I'm not alone. As for when I first discovered it, it was something subtle at first. I'd find that some of the hot drinks I ordered cooled off rather quickly. I didn't think much of it, but I really knew something was different when I slipped in the Great Fox's kitchen at one point and my hand grabbed the oven, which was preheated for something. Instead of burning my hand, I found that instead, there was a small sheet of ice over my hand. It crumbled away as soon as I realized I didn't need it, and I've been subtly trying to master my powers since then. How about you?"

Miyu chuckled, "I guess I should have seen this coming. Well, I first discovered my powers when I found that certain things would be really hot after I had used them. This was first obvious when I had to borrow some of Slippy's tools to do some customization work on my Arwing, and he complained that he'd burnt himself on his tools. I chalked it up to user error, because that seemed like the kind of mistake Slippy would make. But then other things started happening, like a towel that I'd used had a scorched hand-print on it, or a cup of water in my hand boiling at random. Eventually, I just flat out messed with it a bit and found out that I was a full-fledged pyrokinetic Conduit." Fay glanced at her own hands as the icy wind faded from them, "And I'm cryokinetic." She then looked up from her hands to meet Miyu's gaze, "By the way, _Conduit_? Is that what they're calling us?" Miyu nodded, "I'd had ROB intercepting transmissions sporadically, and the few that mention Lylatians with superpowers tend to call them Conduits, especially the military transmissions concerning them."

"Didn't know the military was interested," Fay mused aloud. Miyu shrugged, "Any advantage they can find against the Venomian remnants is something they want to exploit to the fullest. That term's significantly nicer than what some of the civilian transmissions call us." Fay briefly met Miyu's gaze, then glanced behind her at the sound of footsteps on the pavement. Following Fay's gaze, Miyu found herself looking at a small group of Lylatians, all canines, a few feet away from them. It took a moment for Miyu to register, but the group wasn't exactly hiding that they were prowling for trouble. The lead canine eyed the two with lecherous intent. And then, he greeted the two, "Am I right to assume you two ladies have lost your way?" Miyu met his gaze with a smug grin, "We'll be fine." She then flipped him the bird, still grinning, "Now go stick your face in a blender." The canine smiled, teeth bared, "Sure, but I think we can help you lovely sweeties with whatever you need." Miyu rolled her eyes, "You don't hide your intentions very well, dick-head." The canine chuckled and moved close, really close, to Miyu, "You know you want it." At that point, Miyu put a flaming hand on his chest. At the sudden burning pain, the canine yelped and backed off for a moment. As soon as he backed off, Miyu extinguished the fire in her hands, prompting his response, "You're one of those superpowered freaks!" Miyu's smug grin disappeared, replaced by a scowl, "Conduit. Now go home and rethink your life-choices or so help me, sex will be even less than the least of your worries." He stood up straight and snarled, "You're better off dead than telling me how to live my life!" Miyu rolled her eyes, "How very cheesy of you." She turned to Fay, "Come on, lets blow this joint before they try anything stupid." Fay, pleased to see Miyu's normally gleeful disposition return, was more than happy to oblige, "Meet ya at the coffee shop?" Miyu nodded, then disappeared in a brief fiery flash, to which Fay followed in a cold gust of wind and ice, leaving four dumbfounded Cornerians.

~x~X~x~X~x~

Searching around a bit more, Krystal was disappointed to not find any clues about where the perpetrator had gone after beating her and Katt. She also couldn't seem to find any more of those glowing rocks. She decided that she'd leave this alley and explore the next alley. When she turned around to leave, the sound of a shotgun being pumped made her pause. She saw red sweaters and hoods running across the street and recognized them as the Reapers. Growling and snarling, they started firing into the street at the Landmaster rolling toward them, causing it to stop. The Landmaster began moving its cannon around to get a shot at the Reapers, successfully nailing one and blowing him away. The other Reapers were more agile and the Landmaster's pilot was unable to hit any of them. Other soldiers appeared from inside the buildings they were searching to fight against the Reapers.

Krystal watched the events unfold from behind the corner of the alley she was in. The military definitely wasn't fooling around, as they gunned down a couple more Reapers. Unfortunately, neither were the Reapers messing around, as seemingly out of thin air, a Cornerian wearing a white sweater with a fully obscured face appeared and crouched. The Reaper began drawing some sort of energy into himself, before standing straight up, arms shooting up, unleashing a line of explosions that hit the Landmaster as it charged a second shot, causing it to bounce back and the charged shot went off into the sky. Krystal debated on whether or not she should step in, then stopped when one of the Cornerian soldiers began glowing a brilliant yellow, followed by various rocks and slabs of concrete clustering and rearranging into an extra layer of armor as the soldier proceeded to lob a glowing sphere of yellow energy and chunks of concrete at the Reapers, the following explosion killing a couple Reapers and incapacitating three more. The white Reaper vanished and reappeared behind the soldiers, rifle in hand, and shot one of the soldiers in the back. The concrete soldier proceeded to kneel, press his hand to the ground, and raise it up, ripping part of the road out and twisting it into what Krystal assumed was a barrier. The soldier covered behind his barrier, calling the surviving soldiers to him as he raised more a couple more barriers, then fired upon the white Reaper. The Reaper went down quickly, unable to teleport in time. The remaining Reapers, upon seeing what the soldiers had accomplished, retreated, disappearing into alleys and vanishing before the soldiers could catch up to them.

Krystal ducked back into the alley as one of the soldiers looked in her direction. She was thankful she didn't have to deal with the Reapers, but Corneria's military, she had heard was something else altogether. She wasn't sure she wanted to find out the full extent of their power, especially that one that could manipulate the rocks around him. Scooting along the wall as carefully and quietly as possible, she began to think she could make it out without a problem, until she bumped into a stack of boxes, knocking them over, their contents making quite a ruckus. Her cover blown, she was about to flee the scene when she heard one of the soldiers yell, "Halt! You're in a restricted area! Put your hands behind your head and get on the ground!" Krystal looked and realized that the soldier that found her was none other than that rock manipulator.

She began weighing her options as she stepped away from the wall, hands up. Getting on her knees, she put her hands behind her head as the soldier walked toward her, rifle at the ready. He was stopped when another voice called out to him, "Stand down, soldier. She looks like a civilian." The soldier stepped aside as another one, a sergeant, walked into the alley and approached her, "He is right though, you are in a restricted area. I would appreciate if you tell us how you got in here and what your purpose here is. We'll escort you out if you do and there won't be any problems."

Karmic Moment: The sergeant wants to know what Krystal is doing in a restricted area. Her options are as follows:

→ Good = Comply

→ Evil = Rebel

→ Neutral = Take A Third Option

A/N

→ And here lies Krystal's first Karmic decision as well as her first Blast Core. In that context, I feel I may as well say this. Just like what they'd done with the inFAMOUS series, the Good Karma side is the one I'd really consider Canon (despite the fact that fanfiction in and of itself isn't canon to its host franchise or franchises usually). Of course, I may still write the Evil Karma side for the sake of completion, so expect to see both, as well as a special Neutral Karma version as my own little twist on the idea.


	4. Chapter 3: Compliance

Chapter 3: Compliance

~x~X~x~X~x~

Karmic Moment: By choosing to comply, Krystal has the chance to make a potential ally with the sergeant.

→ **Good = Comply**

"I'm- I'm sorry sergeant. I..." Krystal trailed off for a moment, uncertain of what to say. A brief thought later and she decided to tell the truth, "I came here because I was looking for something. I didn't realize that this was a restricted area until I saw your patrol. I was going to leave, but I saw your fight with the Reapers." She looked up at the sergeant, "I won't do it again, just please let me go." The sergeant grinned, "Alright, we'll let you leave." He turned to two of the soldiers around him, "Please escort Miss..." He paused when he realized he didn't know her name and turned to her. "I just go by Krystal." The sergeant finished his order, "Escort Miss Crystal out of the blast zone and find wherever the hole in our perimeter was. I'd hate to see a mountain of paperwork because one of you neglected to make sure a civilian didn't stray in and get shot." Krystal knew he'd used a 'C' in her name, but chose not to say anything. If she was lucky, she could stay on this sergeant's good side. It helped somewhat that, while she didn't tell him the whole truth, she'd told him enough that he appeared to believe it.

As she was escorted onto the street and toward two towers with a bridge between them, one of the soldiers asked her, "Can we trust you to keep a secret? Cornerians with superpowers aren't exactly very well liked, and if word gets out that the military has them, well..." Krystal hastily nodded, "My lips are sealed." The soldier grinned, "Good. Now, we've just gotta do a quick checkup, then you're good to go." Krystal's eyes widened, "Checkup?" The soldier nodded, "Yeah. Simple blood-test. Make sure you don't have the plague." Her eyes couldn't physically widen more, "Plague?" The soldier realized he'd said too much, "Don't worry about it! ...Don't tell anyone either or else bad things will happen." The soldiers stood aside and she looked ahead at a device. It had a small screen with the outline of a hand-print on it and a mechanical appendage shining a light on it. She paused, uncertain of what to do. One of the soldiers seemed to notice, "Just put your hand on the outline. The machine will do the rest."

Hesitant, Krystal walked toward the device and after a moment's pause, she put her hand on the hand-print outline. The light focused on her index finger and a line moved vertically across the screen. Removing her hand, Krystal stared at the device in curiosity as it flashed an animation of a dot moving in a circle for a moment. After doing what she assumed was checking for something, alarms began blaring and an unseen voice spoke from the device, "Warning, Prime Conduit detected!" She turned to the soldiers as they immediately turned their rifles on her. Her body reacted on instinct, transforming into a cloud of smoke and rushing through the checkpoint, away from the soldiers as they immediately started shooting, "She can't escape! Don't let her!" Krystal reformed a few yards away from the checkpoint and almost without even realizing it, she had already smoke-dashed even further away. She barely seemed to register when she reformed as she immediately transformed into a smoke cloud moving through the air at three times her running speed. She did register when she found herself inside a vent, as she suddenly went flying once again.

She hit the roof and after regaining her balance, she looked back in time for a bullet to go through her chest. She froze at the sudden pain and looked down. Red stained her chest, and before she could even react, a second bullet went through her side, and a third through her midriff. She fell to her knees and hit the ground, then blacked out.

~x~X~x~X~x~

"...didn't say to kill her, dip-stick! Remember your training? You were explicitly taught to use nonlethal methods to capture Conduits. General's gonna have our asses for this!" Somehow, she wasn't sure, but she was still alive, and the pain wasn't there anymore. Grunting, she struggled and managed to roll onto her back. She saw a small cloud of smoke hanging over her, the embers and cinders slowly flying into her body. The cloud phased into her and suddenly, Krystal felt more alive than ever. Smiling at the discovery of her new power, she got back onto her feet in a cloud of smoke. Upon standing up straight, she heard the soldiers point her out, followed by the sound of rocks hitting each other. She looked back just in time to see the concrete Conduit summon a pillar of concrete and fly into the air. She dived to the side as he landed on the roof, rifle aimed at her. As tempting as it was to shoot at him with her newfound smoke-shot power, she refrained and instead asked, "Why were you shooting at me?" The Conduit soldier didn't take his eyes off her for one moment as he answered, "You're a Prime Conduit. You represent a significantly high value to many, many factions. The Reapers and Vermaak for example are factions that would, without a second thought use you and abandon you or kill you the instant they have no need for you." Krystal retorted, "And you would just lock me up and wait until I could be weaponized, or would you rather that I was killed? Tell me, how's that any better?"

The Conduit soldier paused, "You think we're trying to kill you? You getting shot was an accident. We're trying to offer sanctuary to you, and if we have to, we'll use force to make sure you're safe from them." Krystal glared at the soldier, "It's not a sanctuary if you're forcing people to stay, it's a prison." The concrete Conduit pointed his rifle at her, "You will come with us, unconscious if need be." Smoke began emanating from her hands and she was ready to fight back when, in a seemingly anticlimactic moment of plot advancement, a beam of light struck the concrete Conduit. Massive pillars of light were all striking the same spot, where the concrete Conduit was standing and somehow nowhere else. After awhile, the beams stopped and the Conduit soldier fell down. Krystal wasn't certain if he was dead or not, but she soon realized she wasn't alone on the rooftops when she saw a figure in the distance, on top of a taller building. She watched as the figure disappeared in a flash of light. _Who was that?_ _D_ _id that stranger save me?_ _Why?_ Krystal wondered to herself as she made a break for it, smoke-dashing from rooftop to rooftop, having apparently lost the rest of the soldiers. She had no doubt they'd come looking for her now, but until then, she'd just have to lay low and hope for the best.

~x~X~x~X~x~

Reforming in a cloud of frost atop a roof, Fay briefly looked around to make sure those troublemakers weren't following them. Thankfully, it seemed none of them could. All she had to do at that point was find Miyu and make sure she got out alright. A whoosh behind her attracted her attention behind her to see the familiar brown fur and black spots she'd gotten so used to. Miyu chuckled a bit, "Did ya see the looks on their faces?" Fay nodded, grinning, "I'd swear, it was like they'd seen a ghost. It was hilarious really." Fay's smile faded as her mind returned to their mission at hand, "How are we going to find Madison? We hardly know where he was last seen." Miyu put her hand on her forehead, "Fay, I've already told you where we're going. I swear, you're doing this just to annoy me." Fay grinned at her, "Yeah, I am. What's a little friendly teasing every now and then gonna do?" Miyu looked at her and smirked, "I'll tease you!" In a fiery flash, Miyu wrapped her arms around Fay and assaulted her neck with a series of kisses, prompting a giggle from Fay, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Miyu, in a playful act, frowned and let go of Fay, "You're no fun."

"Aw come on, I like it when you do that!"

"...I could do a whole lot that you'd like if we have some time alone."

"...I'll think about it."

Putting her mind back on the task, Fay glanced around the rooftop, "It was on the news recently that the military had sealed that street off. If that's where he was last seen, we're not gonna be able to investigate without authorization." She turned back to Miyu, "If that's the case, how are we going to find him?" Miyu thought about it, "We could sneak in, but I'm not really feeling it. I might have a friend from college that I could ask. Maybe she knows somebody, and if we're lucky, she'll let us stay for the night." Fay raised an eyebrow, "You seem to have thought this out. Mind telling me who this college friend is?" Miyu shrugged, "You don't know her because you and I weren't in the same dorm at the time?" Fay nodded, "But as I recall, we both went to the same college, and if this person is a friend, I'd kinda like to know her." Miyu pulled out her cell-phone and paused to remember the number, "Well, it's not like we were in the same dorm or the same classes." Fay remained suspicious, "She's not an ex, is she?" Miyu paused while dialing. There was a long silence between them and Fay eventually repeated the question, "Is she your ex?" Miyu shook her head, "...No. She and I were friends, that's it." Fay began to wonder if something had happened between them due to Miyu's tone of voice changing so suddenly, but a little whisper in the back of her mind told her not to press the possible issue.

Miyu put the phone up to her ear and waited patiently for an answer. Eventually, one arrived. "Hey! Hey, it's Miyu. Yeah, you remember me? I was in that gymnastics class. Yeah, you were in it too, remember? Yeah, I know this seems kinda sudden, because it is, but I was wondering if we could come over to your place and crash for a few nights. What's that? You live in an apartment? We won't take up much space. Oh, it's just me and my uh... my girlfriend. Yeah, I know, lot's changed. We should talk, you, me, clear some things up, clear up some misconceptions." There was a pause on the other line as Miyu and Fay held their breaths for a few moments in anticipation of a reply. When one finally came, Miyu grinned, "Thanks, we'll be over soon, see you in-" She stopped when she heard something on the other line that prompted a panicked voice from the other line, prompting Miyu to frantically ask for a reply, "Hello? What's wrong? Hey!" Frustrated, Miyu hung up and turned to Fay, "Something is wrong, we've gotta get over there!" Having managed to get the address before the other line was interrupted, Miyu gestured for Fay to follow her, then flew in a specific direction as a flaming mass. Fay dashed after her in her icy wind form, trying to stay caught up with the fiery humanoid ahead of her

~x~X~x~X~x~

Once the duo got close to the address for Miyu's friend's apartment, the first thing they saw once they had reformed was a large cloud of smoke. Initially, Miyu thought a bomb had gone off, until she witnessed a shape moving in the shadows. Moving to street level to get a better, closer view of the shape, she and Fay arrived to witness soldiers from the Lylatian military arrive and form a defensive line in front of the smoke cloud. They were joined shortly by the police officers in the area. There was a brief period of stillness as the smoke started to thin out. A few moments passed, then from inside the cloud, tendrils lashed out and matched onto both military and officer, dragging them into the cloud as they screamed and struggled in vain to avoid their mysterious fate.

Shortly after they disappeared, a massive creature easily the size of the 4+ story buildings around it charged out of the smoke, roaring and crushing anything and anyone in its wake. Miyu, without hesitating, fire-dashed in the same direction as the monster's charge. Fay followed with an ice-dash as one of the beast's four legs came down on the spot she had been standing a mere second ago. Once they got a good distance between them and the monster, they reformed and Fay approached Miyu, "How are we supposed to fight something that large?!" Miyu was about to say that they'd attack from above, when she remembered that their Arwings weren't nearby, and even an autopilot tracking her homing beacon wouldn't get there fast enough. This prompted Miyu to tell Fay, "We hit it with the full force of our powers and pray that they at least make a dent." Fay nodded, "Gotcha."

Fay held her arms up and pointed at the beast, before repeatedly firing bolts of supercooled liquid that froze on impact. The monster ignored the menial amount of added weight, until Fay shot straight up in the air with an ice-launch, and hovered in the air. She held her arms up and brought them down, criss-crossing them as the icy mist formed around her hands. Miyu watched as the ice clusters on the monster's hide suddenly jutted outward, their undersides having formed into long, sharp spikes. When the ice spikes fell off the creature, both Miyu and Fay realized that the creature's hide was much denser than either one thought as Fay hovered back down. "Well, impalement didn't work. Any more ideas?" Fay asked as fire engulfed Miyu's arms. Flames licked at her legs as she crouched and jumped. She landed on top of the creature's head as it raised its arms, then slammed them into the ground, pustules on its elbows glowing. Tendrils erupted from the street, grabbing anyone they could reach and flinging them around or else pulling them underground. Miyu's voice got caught in her throat as one tendril wrapped around Fay's leg. Fay panicked as the tendril tried to pull her underground. Miyu screamed her name as Fay fell forward, struggling against the beast's pull. Fay managed to get a firm grip on the edge of one of the holes the tendril had emerged from, and launched herself out of the hole with an ice-dash. Miyu, struggling to stay on top of the monster's head, was relieved to see Fay make it out, and proceeded with her own plan. Looking around for any sort of gap in the creature's armor, she found one at the base of the neck and concentrated the fire in her hands until she was holding something more akin to solid fire. Throwing the fire grenade into the gap, she leaped off the monster as the grenade exploded. The creature howled, a sound that that would give both of them nightmares for weeks.

Seeing as the monster seemed completely unaffected by the fire grenade, Miyu glanced at Fay and asked, "By chance, you got any sort of super-powerful attack you could use?" Fay thought about it for a moment, dodging as the creature knocked a car forward, "Yeah, you?" Miyu nodded, "We'll go one at a time." Miyu crouched, arms folded up, hands balled into fists. At that moment, all heat in the immediate area seemed to disappear, and even Fay felt cold. She glanced at Miyu and saw her glowing white hot as flames embraced her entire body. She stood up, raised a leg, and stomped into the ground, arms outstretched. Orbs of fire and lava shot out of the ground around her as the glow began to fade. Standing straight and raising her arms, she pointed down and sent the fireballs down onto the monster, bathing it in flames. For the longest moment, everyone on the street who was still alive paused, save for a few running in panic, as the creature thrashed about and screeched. Miyu couldn't help a smirk as she thought she'd gotten it with that attack. The drain from such a powerful attack finally hit her and she fell to her knees, prompting Fay to run to her side and hold onto her, keeping her upright. The creature had stopped roaring and had fallen over, prompting everyone to start cheering. "That was so awesome, Miyu!" Miyu chuckled, half-awake, "Yeah, wasn't it though?"

At that point, the creature began moving again, and with a roar, began getting back up on its feet, prompting more civilians to flee in terror and anyone with guns to start shooting at the monster. Miyu groaned, "Dammit, it didn't work, and I don't have the energy for another attack." As she fell over, she said, "Your turn, Fay." Fay wanted to stay by her side, but as the creature got up, she only had one chance to save any many people as she could. Crossing her arms over her head, then bringing them down over her chest, pulling in as much cold wind as she could. Frost flew from her hands and coalesced around her into snowballs. She waited until roughly a few hundred were orbiting in the air around her, carried by fierce freezing winds, packing down even further until they were balls of ice. She pointed her arms forward, sending the giant hailstones flying at the monster, each one striking and breaking, releasing more freezing cold liquid that quickly encased the entire monster in a sheet of ice. As the last part of her attack, she summoned a pillar of ice that she used as a perch, then shattered the ice pillar. While hovering, she flew toward the frozen monstrosity with a cluster of giant icicles trailing her. She kicked off the beast and the icicles struck where she had touched the beast as she landed safely on the ground. The icicles shattered when they hit, destroying the monster's frozen cage and knocking it back down. Feeling numb and tired, Fay dragged her feet over to Miyu, who currently lay resting, and collapsed next to her. The concrete wasn't exactly comfortable, but she was too tired to care at that point.

The monster, which Fay truly hoped was dead, instead got right back up and roared. Fay groaned, as she, just like Miyu and her Firestorm, didn't have the energy for another Hailstorm. Unable to muster the energy to even stand up, Fay collapsed, unconscious.

The monster narrowed its eyes at the two Conduits that had attacked it and roared, opening its chest to reveal two more glowing pustules. The two on its arms had been destroyed by their combined attacks and while it was keen on protecting the remaining two "hearts," it was also keen on absorbing any biomass it could to regenerate. It was then that it spied what it immediately sensed as another Conduit, a third one. This one was running straight at the creature. Lightning arced from the Conduit's arms as she came to a stop a few yards away from the creature. She raised her arms up and the creature tried to pull the tendrils it had launched back into its chest, all too late as suddenly, lightning tore through the clouds and struck it right in the chest, while it was still open and unshielded. The lightning didn't just strike once, it struck continuously until the beast toppled over, unable to stand as its remaining external hearts were destroyed, burned away by the lightning. The creature screamed and roared, trying to maintain consciousness and balance, and failing as it crashed into a building and then fell onto the street.

The lightning Conduit, tired after exhausting most of her energy save for a small amount, limped toward the two unconscious Cornerians. There was a rumbling in the street as the creature seemed to dissolve into a green mist, which obscured anything she could see happening inside the fog. She turned to the two Cornerians and sighed, wondering how she'd get them off the streets together.

A/N

→ Miyu and Fay having fire and ice respectively is a little bit of a shout-out to another fanfiction by a certain Voice in the Night titled, "Fire and Ice." It's a pretty good story and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a decent superpower/drama fanfic.


End file.
